What Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and 11 other successful people do on weekends

If you had your own island, you'd probably spend a lot of time there, too.Rob Libetti/Business Insider

For some, the weekend's a sacred retreat from the hustle and bustle of work.

For others, the weekend is a myth — Saturday and Sunday are mere extensions of the workweek and a chance to get ahead of the competition.

Judging from the ways successful people spend their — at least theoretical — time away from work, there really is no right or wrong way to structure your weekends. It's all about striking the right balance for you.

Richard Branson hangs out on his island in the Caribbean.

AP Photo/Todd VanSickle

While Branson tells the Telegraph he spends half the year traveling the world on business trips, he says he spends the other half on his tiny private Caribbean island, Necker.

"I know I shouldn't, but I still like to party on Friday nights," he admits. The business mogul says he dances until the wee hours of the morning to the sounds of the island's band, the Front Line, and heads to the crow's nest on his roof around 2 a.m. to watch the stars.

Despite being up late, Branson says he still wakes up early, usually before everyone else, and goes for a swim around the island.

"It's exquisitely beautiful; I'll see spotted eagle rays, giant leatherback turtles and a number of species of shark, such as nurse sharks and lemon sharks," he tells the Telegraph. "It's not frightening; if you're swimming with sharks they don't tend to bother you at all, it's only if they mistake you for a seal that they might have a nip."

His morning swim is usually followed by a healthy breakfast of fruit salad or natural muesli, though on occasion he spoils himself with kippers or an English breakfast.

The day's activities could include tennis, kitesurfing, scuba diving, or hanging out with dolphins and whales in his tiny submarine. But Branson says afternoons are always spent on the beach, oftentimes playing chess with his kids.

Saturday evenings consist of more partying, and Sundays include rock jumping, paddle boarding, and boat races, Branson tells the Telegraph

Elon Musk spends time with his children.

AP

Musk, the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has five sons, with whom, he told Mashable, he hangs out on the weekends.

Even when she's not running her beauty empire, Brown tells the New York Times she still wakes up around 6:30 a.m. and heads to the kitchen for a green juice and then a double espresso. She'll follow this by checking emails, reading The New York Times and The New York Post, and checking in on Yahoo Beauty, of which she is editor-in-chief.

The rest of her Sunday, however, is spent meandering the streets of Brooklyn with her husband, brunching and shopping with her kids, and having dinner with some of the extended family.

Bill Gates mellows out.

Bill Gates Foundation

During a Reddit AMA last year, the billionaire Microsoft cofounder told readers that he had just spent his weekend watching his daughter ride horses and enjoying some old-fashioned fun.

"Twenty years ago I would stay in the office for days at a time and not think twice about it — so I had energy and naivete on my side," he said. "Now hopefully I am a bit more mellow but with a little extra wisdom."

Rachel Maddow ditches her New York City apartment for the country.

Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images

The political journalist told People that she, her girlfriend Susan Mikula, and English Lab occupy a 275-square-foot Manhattan apartment during the week when Maddow tapes her show.

During the weekends, though, they drive three hours so they can retreat to their country home in western Massachusetts.

"Having a place out of the city is a shortcut toward the mental reset I need," Maddow told People. She also loves spending her Saturdays reading comic books.

Arianna Huffington catches up on email.

Jacopo Raule/Getty

Though she admits that she likes to go through her inbox Saturdays, the "Thrive" author says she never expects a response from her staff.

"If I send an email at 11 at night, it's to get it off my to-do list, but I don't expect a reply," she told Mashable. "And I make that very clear, I don't expect replies over the weekend."

"On the weekends we have [a nanny] in the morning, so Tiff and I go work out Saturday mornings. Then the rest of the weekend it's just us. It's us putting them to bed. It's us at dinner. We try to be as normal as possible. The whole idea of someone serving you, this and that, that's not us."

Adam Nash goes on dates.

The Wealthfront CEO says on Quora that he and his wife are big believers in date nights. He says it's amazing how wonderful a few hours over dinner and drinks can be.

"There really aren't fixed time boundaries between your professional and personal life," he explains. "That being said, we are all human, and I think you'll see that most of the time I spend on weekends is focused on spending time with people. It's the way I recharge, and it's also the way I keep perspective."

Tim Gunn spends his Sunday's soaking up art.

The "Project Runway" cohost and mentor tells The New York Times that he spends every Sunday at the Metropolitan Museum — "I stay there basically until the museum is about to close."

He dons a suit — "I want to prepare myself properly" — and walks through Central Park to get there.

"I'm a huge lover of art," he explains. "I go to the Greek and Roman galleries first. I'll choose different objects to fixate upon. A trip to the Met can be very emotional. There are paintings there that just lift me off the ground. I feel buoyant."

He then heads to the Balcony Lounge for a glass or two of wine and tea sandwiches and pulls out his iPad to research what he's just seen. "I have become insatiable on the topic of ancient Rome."